Category

//Outfitting a Boat for Cruising

Square Top Mainsail Rigging

23 Nov 2014
4 Comments
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When we got our boat from the factory, we had ordered it with a square-top mainsail. Square-top versus Pinhead The “standard” sail in a pinhead sail, which is shaped like a triangle. A square-top sail is a trapezoid shape. The foot is wide and has a 90-degree angle on...
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Helia 44 At Anchor

Final Selection of Factory Options

18 Jun 2014
7 Comments
Time keeps ticking away and we slowly get closer to when Starry Horizons will be in the water.  We hit a big milestone this past week as we submitted our final list of options we want from the factory.   The amount of time we’ve had since Annapolis has been both an exercise...
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Choosing a Dinghy for Your Cruising Boat

10 Jun 2014
6 Comments
The dingy and its outboard engine are a vital part of the cruising life, shuttling us to and from the shore, to other boats, and carrying all manner of items for us, from groceries to scuba/snorkel gear etc.  Choosing the right combination has taken a lot of time and research...
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Cruise RO Watermaker Review

30 May 2014
9 Comments
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While in the planning process of outfitting a blue water catamaran, we knew that it would be a multi-step process.  One of the most important steps that we took was to install a reverse osmosis watermaker.  We picked a Cruise RO watermaker, and five years later, we are still...
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Setting Up Electrical Systems on a Boat

17 Apr 2014
6 Comments
Electricity.  It’s something we use every day, but it’s always been one of those mysteries of the world to me.  Volts, watts, hertz/frequency and many other terms all seem like they’re from a foreign language.  Sure, I took physics in high school...
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Choosing our Trampoline

09 Nov 2013
0 Comment
One of the things that was quickly apparent to us when we were checking out the Helia at the Annapolis boat show was that the factory trampoline was not going to be suitable for us.  The trampoline was essentially a large, open net and quite “stretchy”, for lack of a...
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Headsails: Gennakers, Screechers and Reachers… Oh My!

05 Nov 2013
6 Comments
Figuring out what kind of sails your boat needs is not always a straight-forward and simple question.  All sailboats need sails, right?  But each sailboat may have a different set of needs.  Most cruising boats come standard with a small headsail and a mainsail....
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Helia 44 Interior Nav

Choosing our Electronics

25 Oct 2013
4 Comments
I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a nerd.  I like technology and while I’m not the most technologically advanced person in my family (here’s looking at you o’ brother of mine…) I think I come in at a solid second place.  Therefore, the...
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